When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.

CRIME is down in Reading for the first time in five years it will be revealed tonight.

Police chiefs admit the two per cent fall is only a tiny cut but are hoping it is the start of a downward trend which will see long-term reductions in crime in the town.

The six-monthly figures show robbery, car crime and shoplifting are all down and will be used by

officers as proof that the Government's high-profile war on muggers is working.

But Reading's head of police Dave Murray

sounded a note of caution saying these crimes were usually committed to fund drug habits and that offenders needed help beating their addiction if long-term reductions in crime were to be maintained.

The six-monthly figures will be revealed by Chief Superintendent Murray to councillors at a special meeting on the theme of ‘Moving Forward in Partnership' at the Town Hall tonight. The figures show:

n DOWN: Robbery by more than a quarter

n DOWN: Burglary by 15 per cent

n DOWN: Car crime by almost a fifth

n DOWN: Shoplifting by 5 per cent

n UP: Assaults by 77 per cent

n DOWN: All crimes by 2.1 per cent in the six months to the start of October compared to the previous year.

The one black cloud standing out in the figures is violence against theperson, up a massive 911 to almost 2,100 - or 77 per cent on the same six months last year.

But Ch Supt Murray said a change in the way violent crimes are recorded had inflated the figures.

The number of crimes police "detect" - where a defendant is either cautioned or put before the courts - is also up by almost a third and Ch Supt Murray called it an excellent "step-change in performance".

The fall in the annual crime figures is the first in Reading since 1996-97, and Ch Supt Murray described it as "a fragile turning point." He also said crimes had been solved by a third.

He added: "I would not sit here and say we have cracked it but I think it is a significant milestone locally for beating crime in Reading."

Thirty-five prolific criminals are currently behind bars because of the street crime initiative Operation Robbery, which began in April, but Ch Supt Murray repeated his belief that locking up hardcore criminals was only the first step in any long-term trend.

He said: "I would suggest that if those 35 people came out of prison and were not rehabilitated in terms of being off drugs, there is a high

potential for them to return to drugs and return to offending. In six months time when they're out we could be looking at very different figures."